As we wrap up 1st semester and begin to transition into 2nd semester, we wanted to inform you of some transitions and changes we are looking to.

2nd semester will bring along a change in some schedules. Your classroom teacher will share them with you. We have worked strategically to implement a stronger instructional program to meet the needs of our scholars here at CMIT Elementary.

Some reminders for students and parents:
1. Our doors open at 7:35 am. If you are coming prior to that please be reminded there is no staff before 7:35am to monitor your scholar left outside and this is not permissible by law.

2. Families who use bus services please remind them as we do no drops offs prior to 7:35am and pick up begins at 2:20 pm. No early dismissals after 2:00 pm.

3. Breakfast ends at 7:55 am. (remember to check their lunch accounts through myschoolbucks)

4. Students should be in full uniform with solid black shoes. On PE days grades 3-5 are required to wear the PE Uniform and all grades must wear sneakers for on PE Day. Please refrain from brightly colored clothing, logos, boots. Students are only permitted to wear their CMIT jackets in the building. If they do not have one they may wear a solid colored, long sleeve shirt under their uniform shirt.

5. If students are tardy or absent please provide them with a note. If your are emailing the note please send it to Ms. Powers.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS.
---A truant student is one who is unlawfully absent for school for more than:

8 days in any quarter,
15 days in any semester, or
20 days in a school year.
Read the Law: Md Code Education §7–302.2

Legal consequences can occur when a student is unlawfully truant from school for any number or portion of days exceeding 20% of the school days within a marking period. The person with legal custody or responsibility for the care and control of a child between the ages of 5 and 16 may be subject to criminal conviction and/or a fine for excessive unexcused absences.

What are some reasons that a student may be lawfully absent?
-Death in the immediate family;
-Illness, with a physician’s certificate, if the student is continuously absent based on illness;
-Work obligations that are approved or sponsored by the school, the local school system or the State Department of Education;
-State emergency;
-Suspension;
-Court summons;
-Hazardous weather conditions;
-Observance of a religious holiday;

6. Check schoolmax weekly to see how your student is doing. This site is updated frequently and is a legal medium of notifying parents of student progress.

7. The classroom teacher is your 1st point of contact around your scholar. Please contact them with questions, compliments, encouragement, and concerns.

We have been working hard as partners so far and we have seen growth. Lets finish the school year out with a bang. As always I look forward to working with each and every scholars families to provide the best learning environment for success and growth.

Ms. Riley
Acting Principal

Opens November 01, 2016 - Closes January 27, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.

The deadline to apply to the PGCPS Charter School Lottery for the 2017-2018 school year is fast approaching. All Prince Georges County families can apply to a public charter school, as there are no attendance boundaries assigned to charter schools. Interested families must complete an online lottery application by the deadline for each child they wish to enroll.

PGCPS gives lottery preference to new students who already have a sibling in the school. Siblings must live in the same household, be assigned to the same household in school max, have the same responsible parent/guardian, and both siblings must be enrolled at the same charter school for the 2017-2018 school year. Families must submit a valid lottery application by the deadline to be eligible for sibling preference. Sibling preference is based on seat availability and is never a guarantee.

To submit a PGCPS Charter Lottery application click here: http://lottery.pgcps.org/.

For more information on the PGCPS Charter Lottery click here: http://www1.pgcps.org/charters/.

Ms. Riley
Acting Principal

We would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU! to all the parents and community partners that came out to support, judge, serve, and facilitate our 3rd Annual STEM Fair.

Our scholars did a great job.
Please enjoy some pictures from the fair
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4CBR7Cq7EPUWC00dFBrLTYyenc?usp=sharing

Ms. Riley
Acting Principal

CMIT Elementary scholars will take following assessments in near future.

January 23rd - February 3rd: MAP - Winter testing (K-5)
January 25th - January 27th: FAST #2 Science Assessment (5th grade only)
January 24th - January 26th: OLSAT Testing (1st Grade only)

Please make sure that your child have a good amount of sleep and eat breakfast on the assessment days. Also, please remember that your child has to be on time to school. We ask our parent to not schedule doctor visits on assessment days if possible.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Arif Akpinar
Program Coordinator

Parents;

Please ensure that you pick up your child(ren) on time from the enrichment program. If you are late, a late fee will apply and payment is due upon your arrival. You will be asked to make payment in the front office. Only credit/debit cards accepted.

Enrichment Program new hours for early dismissal days: 1:00pm - 4:00pm.

Please provide healthy snacks with your child if you are an enrichment parent. Students start to the program with snacks time. There is also a vending machine available in the cafeteria for enrichment students.

Emergency Drop off Fee,

Students who picked up after 3:00 pm will be charged a $20 emergency drop-in enrichment fee and payment is due upon your arrival.

Clubs;

Clubs will resume this week as scheduled. Lego club now has its new students for this quarter. Kus Sool Martita arts club has some spots available for new students. Please contact me if you are interested in enrolling your child.

Please be on time to pick your child up after the clubs. Clubs end at 3.55. If you are late, your child will be sent to the Enrichment at 4.00pm and enrichment drop off fee will apply.

Arif Akpinar
Program Coordinator

We had an amazing STEM fair this year. Our winners are listed below.

Winners

Kindergarten
1st Enzo Nunez Guerra
2nd Janae Jenkins
3rd Charles Allen
4th Warner Brown
5th Andrew Akinmutimi
Unique Isaiah Black

1st grade
Grand prize Zane Kelly
1st Christian Ottman
2nd ALEXANDRA BROCKEL
3rd AIDEN HODGE
4th LAMINE DIAGNE
5th ADEDAMOLA ADELEKE
Unique Kyron Luke

2nd grade
1st CONNOR ANSON
2nd JAMEL JONES
3rd VICTORIA SHIM
4th AVA GILL
5th SARAH CALER
Unique DARNELL GREEN
Unique Dewayne Mosley


3rd grade

1st KENNETH HALL
2nd OMARI PEARSON
3rd AMARIS TAPPIN
4th IFEOMA AKABUDE
5th MYLES DIXON
Unique DARRIUS PUGH

4th

1st BRANDON MILLINE
2nd MORIAH OSHINNAIYE
3rd ASHTON REYNOLDS
4th Zachary WARD
5th HUDA CHAUDHRY

Unique ZAHRIA MOSLEY
Unique BRYCE ALBURY
Best board JAELYN FOX
Most creative ALexander Akinmutimi
Most creative William Brockel

5th
Grand Prize MADISON DOSTER
1st DAILYN WRAY
2nd ARIANA NOEL
3rd VALERIE MARTE
4th NAIMA SAM-BOMAH
5th NEHEMIAH HILTON-BEY
Unique Cory WIgfall
Unique Kefira Boyd

Students will receive awards at our second quarter honor roll assembly.

Mrs. McCain

Please use for your connivence.

Attachment(s)

Ms. Riley
Acting Principal

On January 26, 2017, the CMIT North PTO will host a Town Hall Meeting with special guest, PGCPS District 1 Board of Education Member, Mr. David Murray. We encourage all families of CMIT Academy to attend this special event. This is an opportunity for parents of our scholars to meet the new District 1 leaders and, ask questions about the vision for District 1, and understand how that vision can promote and support the success of CMIT Academy.

Let’s show support for our school and scholars.

Join us for our first Town Hall in the New Year!

CMIT North PtO

Ready, Set, CREATE!

On January 28th, 2017 CLF will host its 1st annual MakerFEST at CMIT Elementary. The MakersFEST is a non-competitive showcase so everyone is invited to enter. All you have to do is fill out the MakersFEST Fundamental Form! As a reward for entry, MakerFEST participants will be entered into a raffle to win cool prizes! Next year CLF plans to share these MakerFEST projects with the Maryland STEM Festival and the world! Come out and see the creativity of our future inventors on January 28th!
Submit entries below

https://goo.gl/forms/4a7FOJ4ocNWYn6rC3

Benora McCain on behalf of CLF!

On Friday, February 3, 2017, we will celebrate our 100th day of school! We would love to celebrate with a dress down day featuring a shirt complete with 100 items. Each child should make a shirt representing 100 days. Students can paint, draw, sew, glue, etc. Be creative! Some ideas include, but are not limited to:

-100 googly eyes
-100 buttons
-100 thumbprints
-100 pom poms

If students choose not to participate, then they shall wear their CMIT uniform!

CMIT Staff

Last week, we discussed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his contributions during the civil rights era. Students received just a glimpse of what lay ahead for Black History Month!

MAP Testing will begin this week! The tests will be conducted from 9-10am over the next two weeks on the days listed below, so please be sure to be at school ON TIME and have a good breakfast! We want our students to do their best!

Monday: Smith
Tuesday: Santiago
Wednesday: Valera
Thursday: Miller

We will begin a NEW schedule starting Monday, January 23. Please review the schedule listed on the grade level website (http://kindergarten.cmitelementary.org/?page_id=41) to view the updated schedule.

Congratulations to our Kindergarten STEM Fair Winners!
Most Unique: Isaiah Black, 5th: Andrew Akinmutimi, 4th: Warner Brown, 3rd: Charles Allen, 2nd: Janae Jenkins, 1st: Enzo Nunez-Guerra
Great job to all the finalists! Way to represent Kindergarten!

Our 100th Day of School is (tentatively - depending on weather) on February 3rd! Students will be permitted to wear a shirt that has 100 items on it! (Get creative!) Students who do not have a 100th day related shirt must be in uniform. More details to come soon! Be sure to check class dojo/e-mails for more information over the next two weeks.

This week in Kindergarten...
English Language Arts
We will read the story "Then and Now." It is an informational text that compares the past and the present, including how music is listened to, how we communicate, and how we travel. We will be drawing conclusions, comparing and contrasting, and identifying initial and final /t/ and /o/.

Mathematics
We are learning to compose and decompose numbers! Students will be expanding on their basic addition and subtraction to now create sums and writing number sentences to match these sums. We will be continuing this over the next few weeks!

Science
Students will continue to learn about non-living and living things! They will identify characteristics of living thing and how to use that to identify non-living things.

High Frequency Words
Here are our sight words we have learned so far. Remember to practice reading and writing these words regularly! (When reading at home, if you see these words, have your child point it out!) All of the words we will learn this year are available on our grade level website under "Sight Words."

I, am, little, to, a, have, is, the, we, my, like, he, for, me, with, she, see, look, they, you, of

REMINDERS
- Homework is due on FRIDAY each week. Remember to look for their new homework packet on Fridays. Homework that is not submitted by the due date will be given a ZERO.
- Please read regularly! Remember that just 20 minutes a day can boost your child's reading levels!
- As the weather gets colder, remember that we still go outside for recess when the weather is above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately!
- If you would like to chaperone any future field trips, you must have a fingerprint background check. This can be obtained from the Fingerprint office at the county building 14201 School Lane, Upper Marlboro, MD Monday-Friday from 8:00am-3:45pm. For more information or to contact the fingerprinting office, please look at the fingerprint office website: http://www1.pgcps.org/fingerprinting/
- Please remember to send an extra pair of uniform clothes to keep in your child's cubbie at school in the event of accidents or spills.
- Uniform is enforced daily, including uninterrupted black shoes. Please go to http://cmitelementary.org/uniform-policy/ for more information.

The Kindergarten Team
www.kindergarten.cmitelementary.org

Snow is Falling
Reading skills – Visualizing, infer, nonfiction writing
Phonics – ew like new
Sight words – years, back, most, thing, just
Vocabulary Words– snow, thermometer, temperature, igloo and blizzard
Grammar Skills – Singular possessive noun

Math
First grade will be continuing chapter 8 next week. Chapter 8 is working on place value, tens and ones.

Social Studies
We will be learning about geography.

Science
First grade will be continuing to work on sound.

Animal Oral Presentation Project
The project is due on Friday, January 27, 2017

Black History Month Poster
The project is due on February 16, 2017

OLSAT Testing
We will be having OLSAT testing the week of January 24 – 26th

The New Schedule will start next please see the first grade website for the new schedule.

1st Grade Team

"We are doing awesome in addition of up to 100 using place value and partial sums for Math. For Social Studies and Science we are learning how to read map and its symbols. We are also learning continents and oceans and their respective weather patterns. We will continue doing this lesson next week. For Reading we are read the "Froggy Fable". We learn about the habitat of the frog and its life cycle. With that lesson, we learn how to make conclusion for comprehension and when to use syllable with "-le" in Phonics. We had a great week and we are looking forward for next week."

Mr. Brillantes

Greetings Families,

We are almost at the finish line! We have reached the half way mark of the school year. On January 23, 2017 marks the beginning of third quarter. In the upcoming weeks, scholars will be taking the MAP assessment, learning material for the Black History Assembly, preparing for the PARCC assessment, and continuing to learn what is left of the third grade curriculum. Phew! Now, that’s a lot!

This week in Reading, scholars will be studying poetry. We will be focusing on using the texts to ask and answer questions. We will also continue to look at adding suffixes to base words. In Social Studies, we will be investigating how people lived in the past using a variety of primary and secondary resources. In Math, students will be studying measuring and estimation of liquid masses of objects using standard units of grams. In Science, students will be reading and annotating a science article.

Please continue to encourage scholars to come to school with a positive attitude, ready to learn and ask questions when he does not understand something. It is also important that you continue to check SchoolMax weekly to monitor your scholar’s progress. Have your scholar visit the following website to see what the PARCC assessment is like.

https://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/


Have an awesome weekend!

Yanisha Daniel

We are very excited to announce we will have a new schedule. This new schedule has specific time slots for small groups for remediation. This is an awesome opportunity to help teachers scaffold learning in small groups. Please review of website for updates. http://grade4.cmitelementary.org/
A specific shoot out to our scholars who created amazing STEM fair projects. You are all on the route to being great scientist. We are especially proud of Brandon M. For getting first place. I would like to give a homorable mention to Munachi I. For all his hard work.

Benora McCain

Students should bring in their $10 club fee as soon as possible. It is time to start gathering more supplies. Students should bring in a personal snack on club days. We are working on our amusement park ride. We will meet until 4:30pm this Thursday January 26th. Students may bring in shirts if they need to decorate them. We will be preparing for the Makerfest on January 28th.

Benora McCain

Celebrating the Students of the Month-December
Olivia Gordon and Ashlie Galley. Both girls enjoy reading.

Parents- The following information is useful:-
Please motivate our scholars to study each and every day
Have them practice on:-

1. ReadyTheory-They know their username
www.readtheory.org/auth/login
PP -educator2

2. Readworks-information is on the previous post.
Code:- QKUB7K (all capitals)
PP:-1234

3. They are working on an essay for Black History Month-Living Wax Museum project-Due Date- January 30, 2017

4. Black History Essay Competition sponsored by CLF-This is due on February 15. (Handout was distributed)

5. Play-Students are creating a play using the elements of drama as studied in class.
They will perform the play in February through March

6. Character Education Lesson (Many students have already Presented)

7. Selected students have iready accounts and should use this to practice at home as well.

Thanks for all you do to make learning meaningful.
Ms. Watkis

Lesma Watson Watkis

Good Day CMIT Family!

Please help me welcome our new Special Education Teacher, Ms. Shannon McVeigh. She is a recent graduate from York College in Pennsylvania and Prince Georges County native.

So when you see her around, please give her a warm Tiger welcome.

Once again, I would like to thank you all for your patience during this transition period.

Mrs. Bello

February 7th - PTO Meeting at 6PM in the CMIT Elementary Cafeteria. Refreshments will be provided. There will be a call in option for all meeting except the September meeting. Please refer to our website for updates on call in options and childcare during future meetings.

PTO

PTO

February 3rd through 9th – Valentine’s Gram Sales (Delivered on February 14th) Show someone you care and send a special Valentine Day treat via PTO. Only $1 per gram and its for a good cause.

PTO

March 17th – 3-5PM – St. Patty’s Day After School Dance Party its that time of year again. Time to party!!!

DETAILS COMING SOON!

PTO

Transportation: Student Drop Off /Pick Up and Early Departure
Note: The parents/guardians are responsible for the daily transportation of their child(ren). CMIT-Elementary does not provide transportation during student arrival or student dismissal. Please update the authorized person(s),including the bus company or the childcare business, that will pick up your child(ren)by submitting an email or written notice to , Crystal.Dubon@pgcps.org and the Principal’s Secretary, Stefanie.Powers@pgcps.org.

Q: What is the earliest that I may drop off my child?
A: 7:35 a.m.

Q: Where should we drop off students in the morning?
A: All car riders should be driven to the rear of the building and dropped off at the cafeteria entrance. Parents must remain in the car in order to keep the process constant and mobile. Carpoolers that include 3 or more students may be dropped off at the main office entrance along with the bus riders.

Q: What is the earliest time that I may pick up my student?
A: Student dismissal begins around 2:30 p.m.

Q: What is the latest time that I may pick up my student?
A: Student dismissal ends at 2:55 p.m. Otherwise, students will be sent to Enrichment and charged Enrichment late fees.

Q: Where should we pick up students in the afternoon?
A: All car riders should be picked up in the rear of the building at the cafeteria entrance. Parents must remain in the car in order to keep the process mobile. Please notice the flow of traffic and refrain from stopping in the middle of the pathway. If you need to buckle in your students we ask that you do not block the flow of pick up so that we can dismiss all students in a timely manner.

Q: What is the latest time that I may pick up my student for early departure?
A: Student dismissal ends at 2:55 p.m. Otherwise, students will be sent to Enrichment and CHARGED ENRICHMENT DROP IN FEES (PAYABLE UPON PICK UP).

Q: Where should we pick up students in the afternoon?
A: All car riders should be picked up in the rear of the building at the cafeteria entrance. Parents must remain in the car in order to keep the process mobile. Please notice the flow of traffic and refrain from stopping in the middle of the pathway. If you need to buckle in your students we ask that you do not block the flow of pick up so that we can dismiss all students in a timely manner.

Q: What is the latest time that I may pick up my student for early departure?
A: Students should be picked up from the Main Office no later than 2:10 p.m. To expedite the process, please send an email to the classroom teacher, the receptionist, Mrs. Virgil, EVirgil@cmitelementary.org and the School Secretary, Crystal.Dubon@pgcps.org and the Principal’s Secretary Stefanie.Powers@pgcps.org or submit a handwritten note in order to expedite the process.

Q: What is the process for walkers?
A: CMIT-Elementary does not recognize walkers since there are no residences within walking distance. Please call the Main Office at 240.573.7240 if you have unique circumstances relevant to the pick up of your child. Please consider that CMIT-Elementary does have a student body of 500 and we are unable to accommodate 500 different unique circumstances.

Uniform Policy
Q: How do I order uniforms?
A: All uniform shirts and tops are handled by the All American Wear. Please call 301-459-5000. All khaki or navy uniform bottoms may be purchased here or at any retail store that sells uniform pants, shorts (except cargo pants), skorts, etc. Full dresses are not allowed for females. The CMIT-ES logo must show during the school day.

Q: When will the uniform policy be enforced?
A: The uniform policy will begin during the first week of school. Please ensure that students are wearing a burgundy or royal blue polo until official uniform tops are received prior to September 19, 2016.

Q: When does the student wear the Physical Education uniform?
A: Please confirm the day of the week that the students enrolled in Physical Education class. Then, students report to school and wear the gym uniform all day. Parents may wish to send the students with wipes for sanitary purposes.

Q: Must the uniform shoe have all black?
A: Yes, the shoe worn with the uniform must be ALL BLACK. Any tennis shoes can be worn for PE and PE only.

Visitations and Volunteers
Q: How does a parent make an appointment to visit a class?
A: Please email EVirgil@cmitelementary.org to request an appointment. Please allow up to 48 hours for a response to the email. All classroom observations will be limited to 15 minutes.

Q: How does a parent volunteer for classroom assistance, chaperone of field trips, etc?
A: Please email the classroom teacher to express an interest in volunteering. The classroom teacher will contact the parent to establish a date, time, and the nature of the task(s). however, we ask that parents participate in a brief orientation sponsored by the PTO prior to volunteering. Please contact the PTO at cmitespto@gmail.com for assistance.

Parent’s Corner

Parent Teacher Conferences
Q: How is a Parent Teacher Conference scheduled?
A: Please email the classroom teacher to request a conference date. The parent will have no more than 30 minutes to meet with the teacher. The conference date scheduled by PGCPS is November 11, 2016. Any other conference requests must be scheduled with the teacher.

Parent Teacher Organization
Q: When will the Parent Teacher Organization Meet?
A: The PTO is scheduled to meet on Tuesdays from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. except when a holiday, school closing and/or early dismissal has been scheduled. The following dates have been designated for PTO meetings: September 13, 2016; October 4, 2016; December 6, 2016; February 7, 2017; ; April 4, 2017; and June 6, 2017.
Student Academic Performance

Q: How do I know if my student is missing assignments and/or homework? How do I follow up on my student’s progress in the class?
A: Please check the School Max website first. If there are further questions, email the teacher for information on your child’s academic progress or call 240.573.7240 to leave the teacher a voicemail message.

Q: To whom do I express my concerns about academics?
A: Please contact the teacher first. If the teacher fails to respond, then contact the Program Coordinator, ProgramCoordinator@cmitelementary.org. The next line of communication is the administration.

Home Visits
Q: When will the home visits begin?
A: Parents should submit a request to the teacher. A teacher and/or staff member will contact the parent to schedule a date and time that is convenient for the parent and the CMIT Staff.

Student Breakfast/Lunch

Breakfast/Lunch
Q: What time does breakfast begin?
A: Breakfast is served from 7:35 a.m. to 7:50 a.m. in the cafeteria. Students arriving at 7:50 a.m. or later should have breakfast prior to being dropped off.

Q: How much are the breakfast/lunch?
A:

ELEMENTARY (Kindergarten - 5)
	Daily	Weekly	Monthly
Reduced Price Breakfast	$0.30	$1.50	$6.00
Full Price Breakfast	$1.60	$8.00	$32.00
Reduced Price Lunch	$0.40	$2.00	$8.00
Full Price Lunch	$2.75	$13.75	$55.00

Q: How do I pay for the breakfast/lunch?
A:

METHODS OF PAYMENT
Cash	Send Cash payment to the school cafeteria so your child’s account can be updated.
Online Payments using a debit or credit card	Visit www.MySchoolBucks.com to set up, review, and add money to your child’s account. The account balance follows the student as long as they are enrolled in a Prince George’s County Public School.

Q: Where can I find the menu for the breakfast/lunch?
A: Please click on the link for the School Menu.